Newtown families ask panel to shield 911 tapes

Wednesday

Oct 30, 2013 at 12:01 AMOct 30, 2013 at 7:02 PM

A husband and a mother of two victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre told a Connecticut task force today they don't want the 911 tapes released, saying no one needs to hear the sounds from that day.

A husband and a mother of two victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre told a Connecticut task force today they don't want the 911 tapes released, saying no one needs to hear the sounds from that day.

Bill Sherlach, whose wife, Mary, was killed on Dec. 14, said the panel should recommend a compromise to state lawmakers, such as providing members of the media and others a written transcription of the emergency calls.

"There must be some sort of balance between making sure that the public's right to know is sustained while the victims-of-certain-atrocities' right to privacy is also honored," Sherlach told the task force members. He added that "911 transcripts can relay all the necessary information that the public wants without having to hear the sounds of a slaughter in the background."

Earlier this month, an attorney representing 22 of the 26 families who lost relatives in the shooting asked that the audiotape of 911 calls not be publicly released. The Task Force on Victim Privacy and the Public's Right to Know has until Jan. 1 to offer recommendations to the General Assembly to consider in the new legislative session.

In June, Connecticut lawmakers passed legislation that prevented the public release of crime scene photos and video evidence depicting a homicide victim if those records constitute an "unwarranted invasion of personal privacy" of the victim or the victim's surviving family members. The new law also created a one-year moratorium on the release of certain portions of audiotape and other recordings in which the condition of a homicide victim is described. The exemption did not, however, include 911 emergency call recordings, which are typically released in Connecticut.

Last month, the state's Freedom of Information Commission ruled in favor of The Associated Press, which requested documents, including copies of 911 calls on the day of the shooting. The prosecutor leading the investigation of the shooting has said he will appeal the commission's decision in Superior Court.

The AP routinely requests such documents in news gathering. It was done in part to examine the police response to the massacre that sent officers from multiple agencies racing to the school. The shooting left 20 first graders and six educators dead. If the recordings are released, the AP would review the content and determine what, if any of it would meet the news cooperative's standards for publication.

Both Sherlach and Nicole Hockley, whose son, Dylan, was killed, said they are not asking for a categorical exclusion of all 911 audio tapes from the state's FOI Act. Rather, they said different elements of each case need to be considered before releasing the tapes.

"We're not saying all or nothing," Hockley said.

They maintain that the sensitivity of the Sandy Hook shooting, the emotional impact the tapes would have on families and the fact there's no question about who committed the crime support their argument that the tapes should not be released in their case. They also remain concerned about the crime scene photos someday being released, predicting such images and sounds would live forever on the Internet and would be used by people with various political agendas.

"With the Internet, bloggers, truthers and conspiracy advocates, any information available will be published, for lack of a better word, over and over and over again," Sherlach said.

More details about the case are expected to be released soon by Danbury State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky III. Hockley said she and other family members have expressed their concerns about what may or may not be included in his report, which Sedensky has said would be ready this fall.

"I'm hoping that no names are in the report. That would be first and foremost," Hockley said, adding that she's also concerned about "anything that can identify anyone in terms of exactly where they died, how they died, their wounds, anything like that."

Hockley said Sedensky told the families he will do what he can to address their concerns.

"He's going to do what he can from a legal standpoint," Sherlach said.

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